Model-Based Interpretation of PolSAR Data for the Characterization of Glacier Zones in Greenland
Different approaches have been proposed in recent years to map glacier zones using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Most of them rely on empirical or statistical approaches for the interpretation of backscatter intensity measurements and their seasonal variations related to the melting regime of the...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f1b1892f86334a29a9f02165c4de81d8 2023-05-15T15:10:46+02:00 Model-Based Interpretation of PolSAR Data for the Characterization of Glacier Zones in Greenland Giuseppe Parrella Irena Hajnsek Konstantinos P. Papathanassiou 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2021.3126069 https://doaj.org/article/f1b1892f86334a29a9f02165c4de81d8 EN eng IEEE https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9609650/ https://doaj.org/toc/2151-1535 2151-1535 doi:10.1109/JSTARS.2021.3126069 https://doaj.org/article/f1b1892f86334a29a9f02165c4de81d8 IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, Vol 14, Pp 11593-11607 (2021) Firn line glacier zones Greenland polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) polarization phase difference Ocean engineering TC1501-1800 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2021.3126069 2022-12-31T07:20:00Z Different approaches have been proposed in recent years to map glacier zones using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Most of them rely on empirical or statistical approaches for the interpretation of backscatter intensity measurements and their seasonal variations related to the melting regime of the different glacier zones. This article focuses on the potential of polarimetric SAR measurements to characterize the scattering in the different glacier zones in order to distinguish between them. For this, a general two-component scattering model is proposed, accounting for surface and subsurface contributions in the different glacier zones. The (anisotropic) propagation through snow, firn, and ice layers is also accounted for as it plays an important role in the interpretation of the polarimetric signatures. A set of five polarimetric descriptors is proposed to describe the projection of the model on the SAR measurements. The ability of the model to characterize the scattering in the different glacier zones is validated and discussed at different frequencies (X-, C-, and L-band). For this, a multifrequency airborne SAR dataset acquired by the DLR's F-SAR sensor in West Greenland during the ARCTIC 2015 campaign is used. The achieved results indicate that L-band polarimetric measurements allow to differentiate the different glacier zones based on the subsurface (e.g., volume) scattering characteristics. In contrast, the increased (back-) scattering complexity and the reduced penetration capability limit the potential of X- and C-band polarimetric measurements. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic glacier Greenland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Greenland Line Glacier ENVELOPE(167.833,167.833,-72.983,-72.983) IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing 14 11593 11607 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Firn line glacier zones Greenland polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) polarization phase difference Ocean engineering TC1501-1800 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 |
spellingShingle |
Firn line glacier zones Greenland polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) polarization phase difference Ocean engineering TC1501-1800 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 Giuseppe Parrella Irena Hajnsek Konstantinos P. Papathanassiou Model-Based Interpretation of PolSAR Data for the Characterization of Glacier Zones in Greenland |
topic_facet |
Firn line glacier zones Greenland polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) polarization phase difference Ocean engineering TC1501-1800 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 |
description |
Different approaches have been proposed in recent years to map glacier zones using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Most of them rely on empirical or statistical approaches for the interpretation of backscatter intensity measurements and their seasonal variations related to the melting regime of the different glacier zones. This article focuses on the potential of polarimetric SAR measurements to characterize the scattering in the different glacier zones in order to distinguish between them. For this, a general two-component scattering model is proposed, accounting for surface and subsurface contributions in the different glacier zones. The (anisotropic) propagation through snow, firn, and ice layers is also accounted for as it plays an important role in the interpretation of the polarimetric signatures. A set of five polarimetric descriptors is proposed to describe the projection of the model on the SAR measurements. The ability of the model to characterize the scattering in the different glacier zones is validated and discussed at different frequencies (X-, C-, and L-band). For this, a multifrequency airborne SAR dataset acquired by the DLR's F-SAR sensor in West Greenland during the ARCTIC 2015 campaign is used. The achieved results indicate that L-band polarimetric measurements allow to differentiate the different glacier zones based on the subsurface (e.g., volume) scattering characteristics. In contrast, the increased (back-) scattering complexity and the reduced penetration capability limit the potential of X- and C-band polarimetric measurements. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Giuseppe Parrella Irena Hajnsek Konstantinos P. Papathanassiou |
author_facet |
Giuseppe Parrella Irena Hajnsek Konstantinos P. Papathanassiou |
author_sort |
Giuseppe Parrella |
title |
Model-Based Interpretation of PolSAR Data for the Characterization of Glacier Zones in Greenland |
title_short |
Model-Based Interpretation of PolSAR Data for the Characterization of Glacier Zones in Greenland |
title_full |
Model-Based Interpretation of PolSAR Data for the Characterization of Glacier Zones in Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Model-Based Interpretation of PolSAR Data for the Characterization of Glacier Zones in Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Model-Based Interpretation of PolSAR Data for the Characterization of Glacier Zones in Greenland |
title_sort |
model-based interpretation of polsar data for the characterization of glacier zones in greenland |
publisher |
IEEE |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2021.3126069 https://doaj.org/article/f1b1892f86334a29a9f02165c4de81d8 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(167.833,167.833,-72.983,-72.983) |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland Line Glacier |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland Line Glacier |
genre |
Arctic glacier Greenland |
genre_facet |
Arctic glacier Greenland |
op_source |
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, Vol 14, Pp 11593-11607 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9609650/ https://doaj.org/toc/2151-1535 2151-1535 doi:10.1109/JSTARS.2021.3126069 https://doaj.org/article/f1b1892f86334a29a9f02165c4de81d8 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2021.3126069 |
container_title |
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
14 |
container_start_page |
11593 |
op_container_end_page |
11607 |
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1766341732943790080 |